Animation can be a powerful way to introduce young people to media making. As Yvonne Andersen (1970: 9) notes, “it is dynamic enough to stimulate them and yet easy enough for them to handle.” For several years, I have been…
Teaching middle school girls, particularly middle school girls of color, about the legacy of imperialism can be simultaneously disturbing and disheartening. Learning about imperialism requires revisiting the legacy of cultural dominance with a group of young people who are still…
It is fitting that early animation technologies, such as the zoetrope and thaumatrope were called “optical toys”. This attitude of play and discovery is inherent in the animation process, and especially in experimental work. Experimental animators approach animation from a…
For anyone interested in equity in gender representation in the film industry, Melissa Silverstein at Indiewire recently posted some depressing infographics regarding the number of both independent[i] and mainstream[ii] motion pictures directed by women. According to the graphics, only 10%…
Mecki the Hedgehog is a cartoon character originating in the 19th century, based on the tale of The Hare and the Hedgehog, from the brothers Grimm’s famous fairy tale collection. The fable tells the story of a hedgehog who tricked…
One of the challenges of teaching an introductory animation history is finding an adequate book. There are plenty of examples of well-researched histories, but most of them have some sort of limitation—for example, being too narrow in scope (maybe focusing…
